1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a manufacturing apparatus for wiring harnesses and a manufacturing method for wiring harnesses to form a wiring harness or a wiring sub-harness by inserting a terminal of a wire with terminals picked up from a holder of a transferring device into a connector housing in a terminal insertion process as a last process.
2. Description of the Related Art
FIG. 6 shows a manufacturing apparatus for wiring harnesses in the prior art and one step of a manufacturing method for wiring harnesses in the prior art, for example, disclosed in Patent document of Japan Published Patent Application No. H10-112229.
The wiring harness includes a plurality of electric wires, terminals joined to each of both ends of the wire, and a connector receiving the terminals. The wire is measured and cut in a predetermined length by a cutting device (not shown) and an insulation cover is stripped at the both ends thereof by a wire stripping machine (not shown), and the terminals are crimped to respective exposed cores by a terminal crimping machine (not shown). When using pressure-contact type terminals, the terminals are joined by pressure contact to the wire by a pressure contact machine (not shown) without stripping the cover.
Cutting the wire and stripping the cover of the wire and joining terminals 6 are performed successively in automated processes. The wire cut in the predetermined length is folded into a U-shape and the both ends of the wire are held at each holder (not shown) on an endless belt and fed to a removing process and thereafter to a terminal joining process. The holder has a pair of holding claws pushed to be closed by a spring. The both ends of the wire are held at the adjacent holders. The plurality of wires is held in serial order of cutting by each holder and the cover thereof is stripped and the each wire is crimped to the terminals 6 to be a wire with terminals 4.
The each wire with terminals 4, as shown in FIG. 6, is chucked and picked up from the holder on the endless belt and placed at a temporal holder 42 of a wire holder bar 41 in order of insertion to a connector housing 14 by a pair of right-and-left wire chucks (not shown). Generally, both ends 5 of the wire with terminals 4 are arranged at the temporal holders 42 unadjacent and apart from each other. The wire holder bar 41 includes a bar member 43 made of aluminium and the temporal holders 42 made of synthetic resin, which are fixed with even intervals on the bar member 43.
The wires with terminals 4 on the wire holder bar 41 in order from the left end one in FIG. 6 are chucked and picked up and inserted into each terminal receiving section 26 of the connector housing 14 made of an insulating resin by a pair of terminal inserting chucks 44, 44′. A connector is structured with the connector housing 14 and terminals 6 of the wire with terminals 4.
The connector housing 14 shows in FIG. 7 has a plurality of terminal receiving sections 26 (6 sections) juxtapositionaly in each of upper and lower rows. When it is intended that the terminals 6 are inserted in order of from a first to a fourth sections in FIG. 7, the terminal 6 in the lower row to be inserted fourth in order interferes with the wire with terminals 4, the terminal 6 of which was inserted second in order in the upper row, and thereby cannot be inserted. To solve the problem, for example, the terminals 6 can be inserted in order of the first section (lower row), the fourth section (lower row), a third section row) and a second section (upper row) by rearranging the terminals 6 of the wires with terminals 4 instead of the previous order. The terminals 6 at left and right sides of the terminal 6 at the second section (upper row) can be inserted last. Instead, after the terminals 6 are inserted into all sections in the lower row, the terminals 6 can be inserted into the section in the upper row in order from the left end section in FIG. 7.
When the connector housing 14 has the terminal receiving sections 26 only in one row, the terminals 6 can be inserted efficiently into the connector housing 14 by rearranging the terminals 6 so as to be inserted in order from the left end terminal receiving section 26 or from the right end terminal receiving section 26.